In case you didn't believe me, here's a photo of me and my flatmate Faith in our zebra onesies! (This is mostly for my mother haha. Thanks Faith for the photo!)
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Britishness Update
I just thought I'd make a post about the various British things I've picked up/adjusted to/notised in the one month (exactly!) I've been here:
1. 80% of my wardrobe is now from H&M or Primark. And 80% of that is black or burgundy.
2. January. Sales. Aka the reason I have no money anymore. (Think Black Friday type sales for an entire month, it's brilliant, but also terrible at the same time because I spend too much money).
3. Biggest lie of the century from the study abroad office in Wooster: they definitely wear leggings and jeggings as pants (or rather trousers, pants are undies) in the UK. All the time. And in fun patterns and colours.
4. I already spelled things with a 'u' (colour, neighbour, honour, etc.) most of the time in America, but now I can get away with it :-)
5. I don't particularly care for potato chips (aka crisps) in America, but Walkers salt and vinegar crisps are becoming my newest addiction, it's a problem.
6. Breakfast is the best. Baked beans (but not the American kind) and toast and eggs and tea everyday!
7. Chips, crisps, fringe, biscuits, pavement, pants, flapjacks, lift don't mean what you think they mean (although I knew what most of them meant, other than flapjack, before I got here). Also I will perpetually struggle with movie = film and movie theatre = cinema haha.
8. Everyone here ADORES Obama, it's amazing. I love telling people about my swing state adventures and how I got to see him and Michelle speak a few times during the campaign! They freak out.
9. In contrast, no one really has much passion for the Royal Family, that's definitely an American thing more than a British thing by far. When I told people I got up at 5 am to watch the Royal Wedding, they were just like 'why??' haha.
10. Being a vegetarian is SO much easier here!! I can't believe it. Every menu has a small 'v' by all the vegetarian options, and there are always multiple options, not just a Caesar salad like most restaurants in America. Even at Nando's, the best chicken place and a 'quintessential British experience' according to my flatmates, there were two veggie burgers and a few salads, which was awesome.
11. I haven't picked up a lot of slang yet, other than 'bint' which I think is just a Le Page thing haha. The first time someone used it, I was confused because bint means daughter or girl in Arabic, but it's used as an insult/term of endearment in a sense ('in certain areas of Western Sydney,' thank you Urban Dictionary) for a stupid girl or someone who is indecisive or girly and ridiculous. I don't really know how to explain it much better than that.
12. ONESIES. Seriously onesies are everywhere, and not in an ironic way. And they make fantastic animal ones, I bought a zebra onesie in Primark this weekend, it's fantastic. It even has a tail! My whole flat is like a zoo if everyone wore their animal onesies at the same time.
13. HOONED. Just to see if Clare is reading haha :-) (Hooned means really drunk/smashed and it took me a bit to figure that one out and thus it's become a bit of a joke).
14. Big nights out are Tuesday and Thursday, not Friday and Saturday like most American schools (although there is something nearly every night of the week if you want it).
15. Everything is so much more expensive, and not just with the exchange rate. Most events on campus in Wooster are completely free or like $1 (UG cover), but a lot of student organisation events here are £3 or more, and covers for clubs are wayyyy higher (£3-4.50 on average) and man am I feeling like a poorer student than ever. That's probably what's the hardest to adjust to, student events aren't free most of the time!
16. Also the fact that 18 year olds can just go out to the club and the bar and get a drink is taking a bit of adjusting after three years of American college culture haha. It's just so different when the drinking age is three years younger, and the party/drinking culture has been the biggest culture shock, I think. And there really aren't house parties, I'm missing Xi Chi a bit! I'm out of my element.
17. I'm adjusting to the public transport, finally! Trains are so easy to figure out as well, and they're quite convenient from York.
18. Chocolate is so much better here, oh goodness. Even candy bars you can get in America are so much better (like Kit Kats) or have a wider selection (peanut butter chunky kit kat anyone?!)
19. I now look the right way before crossing the street, so hopefully I won't get hit by a car anytime soon. Once I get back to America, that might be a different story.
20. Housing for uni is quite different from my tiny liberal arts college (and closer to larger American unis)- the first year you live in a hall in a dorm (although it's called a flat) but everyone has a single, with either communal or ensuite bathrooms and a kitchen shared amongst your hall/flatmates. Then you usually go off campus and rent a house in town/off campus, which has been quite an ordeal for some people I know. And they're like actual townhouses, not like a janky apartment (Wooster, take note) or program house. In some ways I might prefer this system, but at the same time, I don't mind the dorms. Everyone can't wrap their heads around having a roommate (or even two) for four years though haha.
21. There are a zillion different accents by region and I can kind of tell Northern from Southern English accents, and English from Scottish and Irish, but I'm still not 100% on most of them. Apparently I can do a pretty solid Cockney accent haha. And my flatmates trying to do American accents is hilarious, oh goodness. It's also weird because I don't really notice accents in real life as much as I notice them in tv shows and in movies? I'm not sure why, but it's just something I noticed the other day.
22. The Brits are obsessed with American tv the way Americans are with British tv, it's quite funny haha. Especially since I don't watch much American shows, other than American Horror Story, Once Upon a Time, and the Food Network. But yeah Breaking Bad, the Big Bang Theory, and all the big comedies/sitcoms are huge.
This is getting quite long, but here are some (certainly not all haha) of my observations so far! I'm really loving York, and I really haven't been homesick at all except for like three minutes when I got some sad /shocking news from a friend back home, but even then I didn't want to leave. Overall, I'm enjoying taking in all these new things and meeting so many new people. I definitely don't miss Wooster at all (sorry Nicki, I miss you!! <3) and I'm not particularly looking forward to going back haha. (Really the only things I miss is the convenience of Lowry being open for all meals- my meal plan is for breakfast and dinner Monday-Friday, not all day every day, but that's just me being lazy about cooking). I might just be in the honeymoon phase still, but who knows, I'll go with it since everything is wonderful :-)
1. 80% of my wardrobe is now from H&M or Primark. And 80% of that is black or burgundy.
2. January. Sales. Aka the reason I have no money anymore. (Think Black Friday type sales for an entire month, it's brilliant, but also terrible at the same time because I spend too much money).
3. Biggest lie of the century from the study abroad office in Wooster: they definitely wear leggings and jeggings as pants (or rather trousers, pants are undies) in the UK. All the time. And in fun patterns and colours.
4. I already spelled things with a 'u' (colour, neighbour, honour, etc.) most of the time in America, but now I can get away with it :-)
5. I don't particularly care for potato chips (aka crisps) in America, but Walkers salt and vinegar crisps are becoming my newest addiction, it's a problem.
6. Breakfast is the best. Baked beans (but not the American kind) and toast and eggs and tea everyday!
7. Chips, crisps, fringe, biscuits, pavement, pants, flapjacks, lift don't mean what you think they mean (although I knew what most of them meant, other than flapjack, before I got here). Also I will perpetually struggle with movie = film and movie theatre = cinema haha.
8. Everyone here ADORES Obama, it's amazing. I love telling people about my swing state adventures and how I got to see him and Michelle speak a few times during the campaign! They freak out.
9. In contrast, no one really has much passion for the Royal Family, that's definitely an American thing more than a British thing by far. When I told people I got up at 5 am to watch the Royal Wedding, they were just like 'why??' haha.
10. Being a vegetarian is SO much easier here!! I can't believe it. Every menu has a small 'v' by all the vegetarian options, and there are always multiple options, not just a Caesar salad like most restaurants in America. Even at Nando's, the best chicken place and a 'quintessential British experience' according to my flatmates, there were two veggie burgers and a few salads, which was awesome.
11. I haven't picked up a lot of slang yet, other than 'bint' which I think is just a Le Page thing haha. The first time someone used it, I was confused because bint means daughter or girl in Arabic, but it's used as an insult/term of endearment in a sense ('in certain areas of Western Sydney,' thank you Urban Dictionary) for a stupid girl or someone who is indecisive or girly and ridiculous. I don't really know how to explain it much better than that.
12. ONESIES. Seriously onesies are everywhere, and not in an ironic way. And they make fantastic animal ones, I bought a zebra onesie in Primark this weekend, it's fantastic. It even has a tail! My whole flat is like a zoo if everyone wore their animal onesies at the same time.
13. HOONED. Just to see if Clare is reading haha :-) (Hooned means really drunk/smashed and it took me a bit to figure that one out and thus it's become a bit of a joke).
14. Big nights out are Tuesday and Thursday, not Friday and Saturday like most American schools (although there is something nearly every night of the week if you want it).
15. Everything is so much more expensive, and not just with the exchange rate. Most events on campus in Wooster are completely free or like $1 (UG cover), but a lot of student organisation events here are £3 or more, and covers for clubs are wayyyy higher (£3-4.50 on average) and man am I feeling like a poorer student than ever. That's probably what's the hardest to adjust to, student events aren't free most of the time!
16. Also the fact that 18 year olds can just go out to the club and the bar and get a drink is taking a bit of adjusting after three years of American college culture haha. It's just so different when the drinking age is three years younger, and the party/drinking culture has been the biggest culture shock, I think. And there really aren't house parties, I'm missing Xi Chi a bit! I'm out of my element.
17. I'm adjusting to the public transport, finally! Trains are so easy to figure out as well, and they're quite convenient from York.
18. Chocolate is so much better here, oh goodness. Even candy bars you can get in America are so much better (like Kit Kats) or have a wider selection (peanut butter chunky kit kat anyone?!)
19. I now look the right way before crossing the street, so hopefully I won't get hit by a car anytime soon. Once I get back to America, that might be a different story.
20. Housing for uni is quite different from my tiny liberal arts college (and closer to larger American unis)- the first year you live in a hall in a dorm (although it's called a flat) but everyone has a single, with either communal or ensuite bathrooms and a kitchen shared amongst your hall/flatmates. Then you usually go off campus and rent a house in town/off campus, which has been quite an ordeal for some people I know. And they're like actual townhouses, not like a janky apartment (Wooster, take note) or program house. In some ways I might prefer this system, but at the same time, I don't mind the dorms. Everyone can't wrap their heads around having a roommate (or even two) for four years though haha.
21. There are a zillion different accents by region and I can kind of tell Northern from Southern English accents, and English from Scottish and Irish, but I'm still not 100% on most of them. Apparently I can do a pretty solid Cockney accent haha. And my flatmates trying to do American accents is hilarious, oh goodness. It's also weird because I don't really notice accents in real life as much as I notice them in tv shows and in movies? I'm not sure why, but it's just something I noticed the other day.
22. The Brits are obsessed with American tv the way Americans are with British tv, it's quite funny haha. Especially since I don't watch much American shows, other than American Horror Story, Once Upon a Time, and the Food Network. But yeah Breaking Bad, the Big Bang Theory, and all the big comedies/sitcoms are huge.
This is getting quite long, but here are some (certainly not all haha) of my observations so far! I'm really loving York, and I really haven't been homesick at all except for like three minutes when I got some sad /shocking news from a friend back home, but even then I didn't want to leave. Overall, I'm enjoying taking in all these new things and meeting so many new people. I definitely don't miss Wooster at all (sorry Nicki, I miss you!! <3) and I'm not particularly looking forward to going back haha. (Really the only things I miss is the convenience of Lowry being open for all meals- my meal plan is for breakfast and dinner Monday-Friday, not all day every day, but that's just me being lazy about cooking). I might just be in the honeymoon phase still, but who knows, I'll go with it since everything is wonderful :-)
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Lectures and Seminars and Practicals, Oh My!
Considering I'm nearly done with my second week of classes, I figured I should probably actually update my blog! I'm really enjoying all of the classes I'm in at York, although it's a bit of an adjustment from the American university system.
Mondays I have LFA(Langauges for All) Arabic Level 1. It's at 6:15 pm, which is a little odd, but I really am enjoying the seminar! I'm a bit ahead of the material they're going over at present, but it's nice to have a refresher on some of the vocab and grammar I learned over the last two semesters at home. It's good to keep my language skills in practice in case I want to continue with Middle Eastern studies and Arabic (one of my thousands of grad school options). And my tutor is quite an interesting person. He's from Iraq and lived in Damascus for a bit and now he's teaching Arabic in England. He also tries to bring in some aspect of Middle Eastern culture in each lesson, so the first week we looked at Arabic calligraphy and art (my favourite ever, thank you Islamic Art haha), and this week we looked at typical Middle Eastern dishes (I recognized/had eaten most of them at some point in my life haha. Oh goodness, I miss kanafeh!!) Next week we're going to learn some dialogue for ordering food and shopping for groceries, I could have used those last summer!
Tuesdays I have a history seminar on Childhood and Adolescence c.1300-1600. I really, really love this seminar! The subject matter is a great combination of women's studies and medieval history, and I really enjoy all the readings I have to do each week. Our tutor is P.J.P. Goldberg, who has written and edited a billion books and articles on medieval history, so it's really exciting to have someone who knows so much about the field as my instructor! He's a very typical medievalist historian, who is a bit in his own world but knows so much on the period, it's amazing. I also think there's a really good group of people in the seminar so we have good discussions every week as well. This week I had a group presentation on "the unfortunate and accident-prone children" in medieval sources, which went quite well! Discussing medieval history in a medieval building (King's Manor) is also exciting for me, since there aren't any buildings in America (especially Wooster) that old haha.
Seminars are set up very similarly to Wooster classes (20 or fewer students sat around a table with a professor, primarily discussion based, etc.), but they only meet once a week for 2 hours, and you have to choose the readings for yourself from an extensive reading list. So it's nice in that you have some freedom to decide what you think is most interesting and what you want to explore, but you also have a lot more responsibility to develop your own reading schedule and time management, and make sure you take substantial notes to prepare for the discussion. It's a bit of an adjustment from having 2 or so reading assignments on the syllabus for each class meeting every other day of the week! (My British classmates said they thought they would prefer that setup when I was talking with some of them after class haha). So it's a lot less structured here in terms of contact hours and reading assignments, and I have tons of free time that I have to balance out for myself between work and socialising.
Wednesday mornings I have my one and only lecture, Thinking Through History. It's at 9:15, which is the earliest time slot for classes in York (all my friends with 8 am's are crying right now, I'm sure; my flatmates were appalled at the idea of an 8 am class haha). I don't know why it feels so early, but it does! There are about 200 people in the lecture, the largest class I've ever been in, but it really doesn't make much difference since you come in, sit down, take notes, and leave; it's not like 200 people are trying to have a discussion in a seminar. I think it's an interesting approach to teaching historical theory, after taking both history and archaeology method and theory courses in America. Each week we tackle a large theme in historical research and the issues and debates around it; last week was "living and dying" (demographic history, which I detest), this week was "time and space," aka learning about the Annales School of thought which is my favourite, so I quite enjoyed the lecture today!
Fridays I have Archaeology Practical Skills: Artefact Analysis, also in King's Manor. I think this is my favourite class I'm taking, and now I'm in trouble because I've fallen back in love with archaeology! (I have too many interests, it's a problem). A practical is kind of a combination between a seminar and a lab from what I can tell. There are about 15 people in the class, and each week we're going over different classes of archaeological artefacts (stone, bone, ceramics, metal, coins, etc. as well as how to write up object reports), and we get to interact with real artefacts and reports from the York area. We're going to be working with the Yorkshire Museum (which is right behind King's Manor) and their collections. Our group project in the summer term will be identifying a collection of artefacts from their collections and writing up a report, which is going to be really awesome. So pretty much, best class ever and I'm so happy that my supervisors got me into the module :-)
Mondays I have LFA(Langauges for All) Arabic Level 1. It's at 6:15 pm, which is a little odd, but I really am enjoying the seminar! I'm a bit ahead of the material they're going over at present, but it's nice to have a refresher on some of the vocab and grammar I learned over the last two semesters at home. It's good to keep my language skills in practice in case I want to continue with Middle Eastern studies and Arabic (one of my thousands of grad school options). And my tutor is quite an interesting person. He's from Iraq and lived in Damascus for a bit and now he's teaching Arabic in England. He also tries to bring in some aspect of Middle Eastern culture in each lesson, so the first week we looked at Arabic calligraphy and art (my favourite ever, thank you Islamic Art haha), and this week we looked at typical Middle Eastern dishes (I recognized/had eaten most of them at some point in my life haha. Oh goodness, I miss kanafeh!!) Next week we're going to learn some dialogue for ordering food and shopping for groceries, I could have used those last summer!
Tuesdays I have a history seminar on Childhood and Adolescence c.1300-1600. I really, really love this seminar! The subject matter is a great combination of women's studies and medieval history, and I really enjoy all the readings I have to do each week. Our tutor is P.J.P. Goldberg, who has written and edited a billion books and articles on medieval history, so it's really exciting to have someone who knows so much about the field as my instructor! He's a very typical medievalist historian, who is a bit in his own world but knows so much on the period, it's amazing. I also think there's a really good group of people in the seminar so we have good discussions every week as well. This week I had a group presentation on "the unfortunate and accident-prone children" in medieval sources, which went quite well! Discussing medieval history in a medieval building (King's Manor) is also exciting for me, since there aren't any buildings in America (especially Wooster) that old haha.
Seminars are set up very similarly to Wooster classes (20 or fewer students sat around a table with a professor, primarily discussion based, etc.), but they only meet once a week for 2 hours, and you have to choose the readings for yourself from an extensive reading list. So it's nice in that you have some freedom to decide what you think is most interesting and what you want to explore, but you also have a lot more responsibility to develop your own reading schedule and time management, and make sure you take substantial notes to prepare for the discussion. It's a bit of an adjustment from having 2 or so reading assignments on the syllabus for each class meeting every other day of the week! (My British classmates said they thought they would prefer that setup when I was talking with some of them after class haha). So it's a lot less structured here in terms of contact hours and reading assignments, and I have tons of free time that I have to balance out for myself between work and socialising.
Wednesday mornings I have my one and only lecture, Thinking Through History. It's at 9:15, which is the earliest time slot for classes in York (all my friends with 8 am's are crying right now, I'm sure; my flatmates were appalled at the idea of an 8 am class haha). I don't know why it feels so early, but it does! There are about 200 people in the lecture, the largest class I've ever been in, but it really doesn't make much difference since you come in, sit down, take notes, and leave; it's not like 200 people are trying to have a discussion in a seminar. I think it's an interesting approach to teaching historical theory, after taking both history and archaeology method and theory courses in America. Each week we tackle a large theme in historical research and the issues and debates around it; last week was "living and dying" (demographic history, which I detest), this week was "time and space," aka learning about the Annales School of thought which is my favourite, so I quite enjoyed the lecture today!
Fridays I have Archaeology Practical Skills: Artefact Analysis, also in King's Manor. I think this is my favourite class I'm taking, and now I'm in trouble because I've fallen back in love with archaeology! (I have too many interests, it's a problem). A practical is kind of a combination between a seminar and a lab from what I can tell. There are about 15 people in the class, and each week we're going over different classes of archaeological artefacts (stone, bone, ceramics, metal, coins, etc. as well as how to write up object reports), and we get to interact with real artefacts and reports from the York area. We're going to be working with the Yorkshire Museum (which is right behind King's Manor) and their collections. Our group project in the summer term will be identifying a collection of artefacts from their collections and writing up a report, which is going to be really awesome. So pretty much, best class ever and I'm so happy that my supervisors got me into the module :-)
Sunday, January 13, 2013
First Week in York
Sorry I haven't posted in a few days! It's been pretty busy this week trying to get settled and organise all my classes and orient myself within a new city!
I've been spending a lot of time with some of the Erasmus students. We've gone into town a few times to go shopping for essentials (and clothes, shh) as well as explore the city of York. There have been a number of nice, sunny days, so I've taken some lovely pictures! We just wandered around and found things as we went, including York Minster, the Shambles, and plenty of quaint shops, street markets, pubs, and tea rooms. It really is such a lovely city and I love the atmosphere of the old streets and shops in city centre.
It's been really nice to get to know the Erasmus students because they're from all over Europe so I get to learn different perspectives and cultural background (and language practice!), but they're also going through the same process of settling into a new country and university that I am. They're also all closer to my age as well, and are really dedicated to their studies.
Last night was Erasmus Wine & Cheese, which was really lovely. Everyone was supposed to bring something from their home country (wine, cheese, chocolate, etc.). I brought some California wine (they have Gallo Family wines in the campus grocery store haha). So many people showed up! Far more than any of the other events I've been to so far! There were tons of French students (they were joking about how if you offer wine and cheese, they'll all come out of the woodwork), so I practiced listening to French a little bit. I had some very good cheese as well, and someone made the most delicious brownies of all time. They were still warm from the oven! The group I've spent the most time with is already making some tentative travel plans (Dublin for St. Patrick's Day?) and tonight we're going to see Les Miserables! So it's really great to have that social group around.
My flatmates are also quite lovely! The York accommodation system describe halls as having 8-12 people sharing a kitchen, but the halls in Le Page just kind of continue so that there are about three kitchens in one hall, so all 20-something people really just mesh together. And then the hall downstairs meshes in as well so in effect, I end up having nearly 40 flatmates in a sense! I haven't formally met all of them yet, but the ones I have are great fun, and they study different subjects so it's always fun to get to hear about other's academic woes :-p There are a number of history majors around though, which is nice because I have a lecture with a few of them! I feel bad because I haven't been doing much with them in the later part of the week because I've been ill and sleeping a lot and being a bit of a recluse due to that. But we have six months to get to know each other better!
I was feeling quite under the weather a few days this week, which isn't too surprising given that I'm traveling a lot, jetlagged, and exposed to all kinds of new germs and whatnot. But I'm feeling much better now, just in time for classes to start. My schedule has been completely sorted out, and I couldn't be happier with it! (Other than the commuting bit, which I'll get to later).
My schedule is:
Monday: Arabic Level 1 Seminar, 6:15- 8:14
Tuesdays: Childhood and Adolescence c. 1300-1600 Seminar, 2:15- 4:14
Wednesdays: Thinking Through History Lecture, 9:15- 10:14
Fridays: Artefact Analysis Practical, 11:15- 1:14
In the summer term, it will change for my final projects and exams period. The only thing that is stressing me out is that two of my courses are taught in King's Manor, which is right near York Minster within the city proper, not on campus. I'm used to being able to walk to class within five minutes at Wooster and crossing only one street to get there. Now I'll have to figure out a bus system and time my commute accordingly, or find a bike and figure out how to get there from campus on my own! And of course the bus with a route that stops right at King's Manor doesn't come by campus and heads off in a different direction entirely. But King's Manor is AMAZING!! As a history/archaeology/art history nerd, I'm so beyond excited to have my classes in a medieval complex.
The first time I tried to find it to have some paperwork signed, I got a bit lost and ended up in the Museum Gardens right behind the Manor, which are equally awesome. I took some pictures so you can all be jealous of where my classes are :-)
Once you get inside, there's a courtyard and fountains and there are some original archways and such within the buildings themselves, and I just love it so much. So the commute will be worth it in the end haha.
I'm starting in on my hefty reading lists for my classes this week, so I've spent some quality time in the library the past few days! You only get about 2 contact hours per week per module (if it's a seminar or a practical, for lectures it's 1 hour), and the rest of the time you're meant to be reading and revising and studying away on your own from endless reading lists. We'll see how my first seminars go!
I've been spending a lot of time with some of the Erasmus students. We've gone into town a few times to go shopping for essentials (and clothes, shh) as well as explore the city of York. There have been a number of nice, sunny days, so I've taken some lovely pictures! We just wandered around and found things as we went, including York Minster, the Shambles, and plenty of quaint shops, street markets, pubs, and tea rooms. It really is such a lovely city and I love the atmosphere of the old streets and shops in city centre.
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| York Minster |
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| Check out that clear sky! |
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| The windows were gorgeous in the sunlight! |
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| This pictures doesn't do justice to the way the light works in the space with the colours from the windows |
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| Gargoyles! :-) |
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| The back of the Minster from Dean's Park |
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| I'd like to live here, thanks. |
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| The Shambles |
Last night was Erasmus Wine & Cheese, which was really lovely. Everyone was supposed to bring something from their home country (wine, cheese, chocolate, etc.). I brought some California wine (they have Gallo Family wines in the campus grocery store haha). So many people showed up! Far more than any of the other events I've been to so far! There were tons of French students (they were joking about how if you offer wine and cheese, they'll all come out of the woodwork), so I practiced listening to French a little bit. I had some very good cheese as well, and someone made the most delicious brownies of all time. They were still warm from the oven! The group I've spent the most time with is already making some tentative travel plans (Dublin for St. Patrick's Day?) and tonight we're going to see Les Miserables! So it's really great to have that social group around.
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| Our Erasmus Exploration Group: Mangus, Elsa, Chiara, Sylvia, Megan, Chantal, Emily, and myself (Outi is taking the picture, credit to her for this image!) |
I was feeling quite under the weather a few days this week, which isn't too surprising given that I'm traveling a lot, jetlagged, and exposed to all kinds of new germs and whatnot. But I'm feeling much better now, just in time for classes to start. My schedule has been completely sorted out, and I couldn't be happier with it! (Other than the commuting bit, which I'll get to later).
My schedule is:
Monday: Arabic Level 1 Seminar, 6:15- 8:14
Tuesdays: Childhood and Adolescence c. 1300-1600 Seminar, 2:15- 4:14
Wednesdays: Thinking Through History Lecture, 9:15- 10:14
Fridays: Artefact Analysis Practical, 11:15- 1:14
In the summer term, it will change for my final projects and exams period. The only thing that is stressing me out is that two of my courses are taught in King's Manor, which is right near York Minster within the city proper, not on campus. I'm used to being able to walk to class within five minutes at Wooster and crossing only one street to get there. Now I'll have to figure out a bus system and time my commute accordingly, or find a bike and figure out how to get there from campus on my own! And of course the bus with a route that stops right at King's Manor doesn't come by campus and heads off in a different direction entirely. But King's Manor is AMAZING!! As a history/archaeology/art history nerd, I'm so beyond excited to have my classes in a medieval complex.
The first time I tried to find it to have some paperwork signed, I got a bit lost and ended up in the Museum Gardens right behind the Manor, which are equally awesome. I took some pictures so you can all be jealous of where my classes are :-)
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| The ruins of St. Mary's Abbey |
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| The Yorkshire Museum |
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| King's Manor, where my archaeology classes are |
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| The building where my Medieval Studies classes are |
I'm starting in on my hefty reading lists for my classes this week, so I've spent some quality time in the library the past few days! You only get about 2 contact hours per week per module (if it's a seminar or a practical, for lectures it's 1 hour), and the rest of the time you're meant to be reading and revising and studying away on your own from endless reading lists. We'll see how my first seminars go!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
My room!
I thought I would upload all my pictures tonight while not much is happening! So there are new photos in London Day Four (A LOT of pictures haha) and a few in the Trip from Platform 4. I've also got some pictures of my room which I've finally finished moving into that I thought I'd share.
It's small, but it's nice. I've got plenty of storage space (almost too much)- the padded things by my bed actually open up for storage! The drawers are really shallow, though, so I can't fit too much into each one. I really like having a little medicine cabinet (you can see all the toiletries I had to carry yesterday for 2 miles on top of it haha). York provided the bedding (other than the Spiderman pillowcase obviously), and it's pretty nice, although I was warned by someone in Wooster that the sheets in England can be scratchy and they are a little bit, but not too bad!
I went to an Erasmus Society coffee meeting this afternoon and met a ton of really wonderful people! Erasmus is the exchange program for European students to universities across the EU, but they allow other visiting students and international students to join the society at York. It's really nice because they're all going through the same thing I am, having to move and adjust to another country and another academic system and figure everything out like a first year, so it's great to have friends who understand being a new international student. I met a lot of students from Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Italy, and they are all so lovely. Tomorrow a group of us are going to explore the city of York and do some shopping!
Monday, January 7, 2013
York Orientation
Last night was quite a time. We started out in the kitchen, just hanging out as a big group and laughing at British Cosmo and the like. We headed out to town around 10:30 in two taxis. It's odd how much everyone uses taxis! It's going to be something I have to get used to. It's quite cheap if you split the fare between 3-4 people to get into the center of town (the University is kind of on the edge of the city in Heslington). We went to a bar called Stone Roses which has a classic rock, British music scene, with the Beatles everywhere haha. I really loved it, it had a really great vibe. Everything is so much cheaper than London! It's great. I also discovered Vimto, it's a soda that's kind of like a berry cream soda. We stayed there for almost two hours and a few more friends showed up. We sang happy birthday to Emily at midnight and she was very happy for her birthday!
We then headed over to Willow's, which is like the York version of the UG in Wooster haha. But it was quite fun, they played good music (Backstreet Boys!) although there was some ridiculous drama going on (it was entertaining to me on the outside, but that's because this isn't my life haha). I ended up leaving around 2:30 after a stop at McDonald's (their version of Mom's apparently?) and we took a taxi home. I went straight to bed because I had orientation in the morning!
What's interesting is that the grades for the first year of uni don't actually count/aren't on the transcript for one's degree. You only have to pass with a 40% to continue on the modules for your major, so even though all my flatmates have some kind of exam or essay due this week, they're not nearly as concerned about it as I (or my friends at Wooster) were our first year. I'll be taking second year modules so my classmates should be more serious about their work, since those grades definitely count. There are some pros and cons to this system- it allows you to get used to uni academics without fear of poor grades- but it also allows you to be aloof about your work as well. Unless you're a ridiculously driven person like myself, I don't think most people would still put forth the same kind of effort for grades that don't affect your degree. And not having classes every day of the week allows for constant partying.
I got up without feeling too dead, and after some disorientation, I found my way to the building for orientation it was right next to Vanbrugh, but hidden behind a block so I was confused. The orientation was for visiting students and Postgraduate students, so there wasn't a huge there at all. We went over a ton of information, from the college system, student support, study skills, different language programs (I will be able to continue Arabic here!!) including assistance for those for whom English is a second language and the history of York and places to make sure to see. We had a lunch break, and then there was an organisation fair with different student support groups, the library and IT, YUSU (the student union), banks, and the Erasmus Society. We could go around and sign up for information, get pamphlets, and lots of fun free things (like pens and buttons, and best of all, a free diary- planner in American- from YUSU with important events already written in!).
We finished that early, so Megan showed Emily, Grace, and I where to pick up our student cards. My picture is so ridiculous haha. We also picked up a ton of pamphlets in the Information Centre, so now I've got a stack four inches tall to look though about the Uni and the town itself. We went back for the fire safety briefing that was mandatory, which was quite something- they definitely were working the shock value to get us to listen to the rules haha. Then the Erasmus Society gave a presentation- they seem really great and I'm going to get involved with them! Erasmus is the name for study abroad for EU students within EU universities, however, York's Erasmus Soc lets all visiting and international students get involved. They have some really cool language tutoring and buddy programs. They're having a coffee date tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going for sure. It would be awesome to get to know some Europeans alongside some Brits!
Next were enrolment and registration procedures for visiting students, so I'll be running all over campus the next few days to have the History and Archaeology Departments sign my form, and attend all the meetings I need to. There was a library tour scheduled for the last event, but Megan, Emily, and I went in search of our supervisors instead. Megan and I have the same one, and she is FANTASTIC. I've been emailing her back and forth this week trying to figure out my modules. I originally applied for courses in both History and Archaeology, but I received a really odd acceptance from Archaeology- I was accepted to all the courses I listed, but I wasn't guaranteed a place in half of them, so I just decided that I should just take all history modules because I had been accepted to enough of those. So I sent in my module preference form with all history modules. Dr Alberts emailed me to ask what proportion of my credits I wanted in each department because my form appeared to be only history credits, so I emailed her back to explain what had happened with archaeology, and she got everything sorted for me and got me a place in the modules I wanted!! So I'm very, very excited, and grateful for a wonderful supervisor!
The modules I've been placed in are Artifact Analysis Practical in the spring term and Artifact Analysis Group Project in the summer term from the archaeology department (40 credits total) and the 40 credits in history are split between Thinking Through History Part I (a methods and theory type course) and Childhood and Adolescence c. 1300-1600. I'm very happy with my modules, and now I've got to get my forms signed and actually register for them! I'm also registering for an Arabic module through the Languages For All program at York! I'll get to take two terms of Arabic, and I'll receive a certificate at the end (and I'm taking it for a very discounted price). This is great for my (potential) Middle Eastern Studies minor and will prevent me from forgetting my Arabic! So I'm extremely pleased that I somehow managed a combination of all my interests I wanted to explore at York- archaeology, medieval history, and a language!
We then decided to explore York to try to find some supplies- apparently hangers are IMPOSSIBLE to find in York. Megan, Emily and I walked into town. York is such a lovely, quaint place, I am in love. Madonna was right, it is just like a British Siena! Walking by the medieval wall and gates into the central city was wonderful! We found Morrisson's, a superstore that the study abroad office suggested we use (Costcutter on campus is much more expensive than other stores). It was huge! I got everything I needed, including hangers and a laundry bin! I bough toiletries (shampoo, etc.) because it allowed me a lot of weight and space in my luggage to buy it here, and I got some basic food things as snacks and some tea! I also bought a proper mug because my flatmates sit down and have proper tea with mugs and everything, so I needed one as well. It says "Keep Calm and Drink Tea" :-)
The only problem was walking back. I'm guessing it was 1.5-2 miles walk (although maybe it seemed longer with the groceries and the rain) each way from campus to the store, and we are silly and didn't call a taxi to pick us up. So we struggled along back to campus and I thought my arms might fall off. Of course the first time it chooses to rain while I'm in England I'm lugging groceries back to my room without a hood or hand free to hold my umbrella! Haha. It's been oddly dry the week I've been here.
I got back and fell over, then began to unpack all my purchases. I'm nearly all done setting up my room- all my clothes are where they need to be now, on hangers or in the laundry bin- so I'll take some pictures tomorrow so you can get an idea of my room! My flatmates thought I was insane when I told them I had walked back haha. We sat around and discussed various things- like ethics of euthanasia, the death penalty, religion, etc.- and it was quite interesting and a good conversation! Bin Laden's death came up, and when I told them I had seen Obama, they all about peed their pants. Everyone in England LOVES Obama haha it's so great. Seriously, they were all freaking out so much, and then I told them I had seen Michelle twice and Bill Clinton once, they all about lost it. Yay swing state perks :-p
We went to dinner around 7. I had picked up my catering card earlier, so I was all set to try out some Vanbrugh food! They had vegetable lasagna which is like my favourite ever, so I was well pleased. And then it came with a huge glomp of mash (mashed potatoes) and some green beans and peas and a dessert. And all that was 5?!?! (that's the equivalent of one swipe thing on my card)- but drinks are extra (my juice was 3.34?!) unless you drink water from pitchers in the dining room, which I didn't realise, awkward American moment. The lady was lovely and let me swap my drink for a dessert (I don't understand the maths either). But dinner was delicious. I'm sad that they renovated the Piet Mondrian dining hall, so now it's just kind of greys and greens and blues and not like a painting :-( But we had a good time!
I meant to get ready to go out again for Emily's proper birthday night out, but I fell asleep on my bed for an hour, and then I ended up skyping my mother for nearly 3.5 hours (oops), so everyone had already left to go into town. It's just as well I didn't go, I'm completely zonked from the past week! And it was good to actually talk with my mother through means other than this blog and email. And my cat came and visited the computer as well haha.
So the next few days will be some running about and sorting out my modules and departments, some meetings for my courses, and beginning some reading before my first seminars next week! I probably won't post everyday about those things because that would be ridiculously self-absorbed and boring, but I will be posting some pictures very soon!
We then headed over to Willow's, which is like the York version of the UG in Wooster haha. But it was quite fun, they played good music (Backstreet Boys!) although there was some ridiculous drama going on (it was entertaining to me on the outside, but that's because this isn't my life haha). I ended up leaving around 2:30 after a stop at McDonald's (their version of Mom's apparently?) and we took a taxi home. I went straight to bed because I had orientation in the morning!
What's interesting is that the grades for the first year of uni don't actually count/aren't on the transcript for one's degree. You only have to pass with a 40% to continue on the modules for your major, so even though all my flatmates have some kind of exam or essay due this week, they're not nearly as concerned about it as I (or my friends at Wooster) were our first year. I'll be taking second year modules so my classmates should be more serious about their work, since those grades definitely count. There are some pros and cons to this system- it allows you to get used to uni academics without fear of poor grades- but it also allows you to be aloof about your work as well. Unless you're a ridiculously driven person like myself, I don't think most people would still put forth the same kind of effort for grades that don't affect your degree. And not having classes every day of the week allows for constant partying.
I got up without feeling too dead, and after some disorientation, I found my way to the building for orientation it was right next to Vanbrugh, but hidden behind a block so I was confused. The orientation was for visiting students and Postgraduate students, so there wasn't a huge there at all. We went over a ton of information, from the college system, student support, study skills, different language programs (I will be able to continue Arabic here!!) including assistance for those for whom English is a second language and the history of York and places to make sure to see. We had a lunch break, and then there was an organisation fair with different student support groups, the library and IT, YUSU (the student union), banks, and the Erasmus Society. We could go around and sign up for information, get pamphlets, and lots of fun free things (like pens and buttons, and best of all, a free diary- planner in American- from YUSU with important events already written in!).
We finished that early, so Megan showed Emily, Grace, and I where to pick up our student cards. My picture is so ridiculous haha. We also picked up a ton of pamphlets in the Information Centre, so now I've got a stack four inches tall to look though about the Uni and the town itself. We went back for the fire safety briefing that was mandatory, which was quite something- they definitely were working the shock value to get us to listen to the rules haha. Then the Erasmus Society gave a presentation- they seem really great and I'm going to get involved with them! Erasmus is the name for study abroad for EU students within EU universities, however, York's Erasmus Soc lets all visiting and international students get involved. They have some really cool language tutoring and buddy programs. They're having a coffee date tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going for sure. It would be awesome to get to know some Europeans alongside some Brits!
Next were enrolment and registration procedures for visiting students, so I'll be running all over campus the next few days to have the History and Archaeology Departments sign my form, and attend all the meetings I need to. There was a library tour scheduled for the last event, but Megan, Emily, and I went in search of our supervisors instead. Megan and I have the same one, and she is FANTASTIC. I've been emailing her back and forth this week trying to figure out my modules. I originally applied for courses in both History and Archaeology, but I received a really odd acceptance from Archaeology- I was accepted to all the courses I listed, but I wasn't guaranteed a place in half of them, so I just decided that I should just take all history modules because I had been accepted to enough of those. So I sent in my module preference form with all history modules. Dr Alberts emailed me to ask what proportion of my credits I wanted in each department because my form appeared to be only history credits, so I emailed her back to explain what had happened with archaeology, and she got everything sorted for me and got me a place in the modules I wanted!! So I'm very, very excited, and grateful for a wonderful supervisor!
The modules I've been placed in are Artifact Analysis Practical in the spring term and Artifact Analysis Group Project in the summer term from the archaeology department (40 credits total) and the 40 credits in history are split between Thinking Through History Part I (a methods and theory type course) and Childhood and Adolescence c. 1300-1600. I'm very happy with my modules, and now I've got to get my forms signed and actually register for them! I'm also registering for an Arabic module through the Languages For All program at York! I'll get to take two terms of Arabic, and I'll receive a certificate at the end (and I'm taking it for a very discounted price). This is great for my (potential) Middle Eastern Studies minor and will prevent me from forgetting my Arabic! So I'm extremely pleased that I somehow managed a combination of all my interests I wanted to explore at York- archaeology, medieval history, and a language!
We then decided to explore York to try to find some supplies- apparently hangers are IMPOSSIBLE to find in York. Megan, Emily and I walked into town. York is such a lovely, quaint place, I am in love. Madonna was right, it is just like a British Siena! Walking by the medieval wall and gates into the central city was wonderful! We found Morrisson's, a superstore that the study abroad office suggested we use (Costcutter on campus is much more expensive than other stores). It was huge! I got everything I needed, including hangers and a laundry bin! I bough toiletries (shampoo, etc.) because it allowed me a lot of weight and space in my luggage to buy it here, and I got some basic food things as snacks and some tea! I also bought a proper mug because my flatmates sit down and have proper tea with mugs and everything, so I needed one as well. It says "Keep Calm and Drink Tea" :-)
The only problem was walking back. I'm guessing it was 1.5-2 miles walk (although maybe it seemed longer with the groceries and the rain) each way from campus to the store, and we are silly and didn't call a taxi to pick us up. So we struggled along back to campus and I thought my arms might fall off. Of course the first time it chooses to rain while I'm in England I'm lugging groceries back to my room without a hood or hand free to hold my umbrella! Haha. It's been oddly dry the week I've been here.
I got back and fell over, then began to unpack all my purchases. I'm nearly all done setting up my room- all my clothes are where they need to be now, on hangers or in the laundry bin- so I'll take some pictures tomorrow so you can get an idea of my room! My flatmates thought I was insane when I told them I had walked back haha. We sat around and discussed various things- like ethics of euthanasia, the death penalty, religion, etc.- and it was quite interesting and a good conversation! Bin Laden's death came up, and when I told them I had seen Obama, they all about peed their pants. Everyone in England LOVES Obama haha it's so great. Seriously, they were all freaking out so much, and then I told them I had seen Michelle twice and Bill Clinton once, they all about lost it. Yay swing state perks :-p
We went to dinner around 7. I had picked up my catering card earlier, so I was all set to try out some Vanbrugh food! They had vegetable lasagna which is like my favourite ever, so I was well pleased. And then it came with a huge glomp of mash (mashed potatoes) and some green beans and peas and a dessert. And all that was 5?!?! (that's the equivalent of one swipe thing on my card)- but drinks are extra (my juice was 3.34?!) unless you drink water from pitchers in the dining room, which I didn't realise, awkward American moment. The lady was lovely and let me swap my drink for a dessert (I don't understand the maths either). But dinner was delicious. I'm sad that they renovated the Piet Mondrian dining hall, so now it's just kind of greys and greens and blues and not like a painting :-( But we had a good time!
I meant to get ready to go out again for Emily's proper birthday night out, but I fell asleep on my bed for an hour, and then I ended up skyping my mother for nearly 3.5 hours (oops), so everyone had already left to go into town. It's just as well I didn't go, I'm completely zonked from the past week! And it was good to actually talk with my mother through means other than this blog and email. And my cat came and visited the computer as well haha.
So the next few days will be some running about and sorting out my modules and departments, some meetings for my courses, and beginning some reading before my first seminars next week! I probably won't post everyday about those things because that would be ridiculously self-absorbed and boring, but I will be posting some pictures very soon!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The Trip from Platform 4 (and no quarters)
Another exhausting day! We got up early to finish packing and get breakfast. I somehow managed to get everything back in my bags without too much trouble. We waited in the library- we were told to be there at 9:30- but our taxis didn't arrive until nearly 10, which was irritating. We also had nearly no instruction from Arcadia about what was happening this morning, so we didn't know where to be dropped off or what train we were on- they hadn't even given us tickets- so it was very aggravating and stressful.
So we called the emergency line for Arcadia from King's Cross and it turned out an Arcadia rep was meeting us there to give us tickets and taxi money. So we finally found her and everything was sorted out. We got our tickets around 10:15 and our train was at 11, so we went on a search for Platform 9 and 3/4! It was in the main terminal by the ticket counters with a small queue and a conductor ordering people about. Grace, Emily, and I waited in line while Megan watched our bags. They had Gryffindor and Ravenclaw scarves for you to put on in your picture, so I got to look like a real Ravenclaw :-)
They post the platform number 15 minutes before the train departs, so around 10:40 we found out we were leaving from platform 4 and rushed along in the crowd to our coach- we were near the back so it was a project. And then figuring out what to do with our luggage was another insane issue altogether- there was one little luggage closet with two shelves the size of the toilet for the whole coach, and we all had huge bags, not to mention the other people on the train! But we figured it out eventually, and then we found our seats. We had four together around a table, so it was kind of like having our own little car on the Hogwarts Express :-p there were tons of other students on the train as well! It all felt very Harry Potter-y haha. There was even a trolley that came around with snacks and things- but no Bertie Botts.
The scenery was lovely, although the weather was a bit odd. It was either so cloudy and foggy you couldn't see past the hedges at the edge of the railway tracks, or it was blue skies and sunny and blinding. I just sat and listened to music and didn't fall asleep, surprisingly. It was strange because our ears would all pop every time we went through a tunnel, we couldn't figure out how that was happening so quickly when it was more severe than on an airplane.
Once we arrived at the station in York, we had to haul our stuff off the train while others were getting on, and it was terribly awkward. But we found our way to a lift, and then took a subway (subways = underground pedestrian walkways, not a train) to the exit of the station to catch a cab. Megan and I are housed closest to each other so we took one, and Emily and Grace took another. I was dropped off first at Vanbrugh, but there was no porter at the reception desk to check me in! So I stood about for 20 minutes, and when no one had showed up and someone else told me to go to Wentworth College, I finally called David from Arcadia and he took about 25 minutes calling someone at York before he called to let me know the porter would be there in 10 minutes. It was ridiculous because there were three of us there to check in and there was no porter? It was odd. But it was easy enough, I got my keys and lugged my bags up the one flight of stairs to my room.
I'm in such a great location, it's fantastic. I'm right above the porter and the student bar, common room, and dining hall, and the history department is the floor above me. I'm also right in the center of campus and by the nice lake, so I'm very pleased. I had ordered a bedroll that was supposed to be here when I arrived, but it wasn't, so I had to run after the porter (he was on his way back out?) and have him get me one- I got the last one in the supply apparently. I started to work on moving in, and the closet is rather small and the dresser is even smaller, but I think I'll manage. I do have my own sink and a ton of shelves over my desk, which is very nice. There is a bathroom and a shower room right next to my room at the end of the hall, and I'm very close to the communal kitchen, so I'm pretty well located within the hall itself!
Megan and I went to the campus grocery store to pick up some supplies, but they didn't have what we needed so I just bought some food for a late lunch. I finished up unpacking and took a little break, and then a lot of shrieking started happening in the hall as people got back from break and reunited after their holiday. I went out into the hall and then I started meeting the five billion people (ok, 24) that live on my floor. (We're technically in three "flats" but really it's all one big group for the most part.) Everyone is all really nice, and very loud and crazy, but in a good way. I've been spending a lot of time with a few of the girls- Jess, Sabrina, Emily, and Charlotte- and I'm getting to learn the ins and outs of the social dynamics of the hall. We ordered Domino's for dinner and a large here is the size of a medium in America haha. But it's still good! I've pretty much just spent most of the afternoon hanging out with different bits of the group and getting to know everyone who's here so far- a few people will get here tomorrow. Some of them actually have exams and papers due this week, so they all are planning on doing studying and work this week, which is good because I've got some meetings and such to go to! They're all catered as well and have group meal times so hopefully I can join in on that!
Tomorrow is Emily's birthday so we're going to celebrate beginning tonight. They're planning on showing me around York so I can get to know the area and their friends some more! I'm very excited, even though I'm totally zonked after today.
I will post some pictures later- the internet here is a little wonky. I have York Orientation tomorrow morning, so hopefully I'll learn some good information and get my modules sorted.
So we called the emergency line for Arcadia from King's Cross and it turned out an Arcadia rep was meeting us there to give us tickets and taxi money. So we finally found her and everything was sorted out. We got our tickets around 10:15 and our train was at 11, so we went on a search for Platform 9 and 3/4! It was in the main terminal by the ticket counters with a small queue and a conductor ordering people about. Grace, Emily, and I waited in line while Megan watched our bags. They had Gryffindor and Ravenclaw scarves for you to put on in your picture, so I got to look like a real Ravenclaw :-)
 |
| Platform 9 3/4!! |
 |
| King's Cross Interior |
They post the platform number 15 minutes before the train departs, so around 10:40 we found out we were leaving from platform 4 and rushed along in the crowd to our coach- we were near the back so it was a project. And then figuring out what to do with our luggage was another insane issue altogether- there was one little luggage closet with two shelves the size of the toilet for the whole coach, and we all had huge bags, not to mention the other people on the train! But we figured it out eventually, and then we found our seats. We had four together around a table, so it was kind of like having our own little car on the Hogwarts Express :-p there were tons of other students on the train as well! It all felt very Harry Potter-y haha. There was even a trolley that came around with snacks and things- but no Bertie Botts.
The scenery was lovely, although the weather was a bit odd. It was either so cloudy and foggy you couldn't see past the hedges at the edge of the railway tracks, or it was blue skies and sunny and blinding. I just sat and listened to music and didn't fall asleep, surprisingly. It was strange because our ears would all pop every time we went through a tunnel, we couldn't figure out how that was happening so quickly when it was more severe than on an airplane.
 |
| Scenery from the train in a sunny area |
Once we arrived at the station in York, we had to haul our stuff off the train while others were getting on, and it was terribly awkward. But we found our way to a lift, and then took a subway (subways = underground pedestrian walkways, not a train) to the exit of the station to catch a cab. Megan and I are housed closest to each other so we took one, and Emily and Grace took another. I was dropped off first at Vanbrugh, but there was no porter at the reception desk to check me in! So I stood about for 20 minutes, and when no one had showed up and someone else told me to go to Wentworth College, I finally called David from Arcadia and he took about 25 minutes calling someone at York before he called to let me know the porter would be there in 10 minutes. It was ridiculous because there were three of us there to check in and there was no porter? It was odd. But it was easy enough, I got my keys and lugged my bags up the one flight of stairs to my room.
I'm in such a great location, it's fantastic. I'm right above the porter and the student bar, common room, and dining hall, and the history department is the floor above me. I'm also right in the center of campus and by the nice lake, so I'm very pleased. I had ordered a bedroll that was supposed to be here when I arrived, but it wasn't, so I had to run after the porter (he was on his way back out?) and have him get me one- I got the last one in the supply apparently. I started to work on moving in, and the closet is rather small and the dresser is even smaller, but I think I'll manage. I do have my own sink and a ton of shelves over my desk, which is very nice. There is a bathroom and a shower room right next to my room at the end of the hall, and I'm very close to the communal kitchen, so I'm pretty well located within the hall itself!
Megan and I went to the campus grocery store to pick up some supplies, but they didn't have what we needed so I just bought some food for a late lunch. I finished up unpacking and took a little break, and then a lot of shrieking started happening in the hall as people got back from break and reunited after their holiday. I went out into the hall and then I started meeting the five billion people (ok, 24) that live on my floor. (We're technically in three "flats" but really it's all one big group for the most part.) Everyone is all really nice, and very loud and crazy, but in a good way. I've been spending a lot of time with a few of the girls- Jess, Sabrina, Emily, and Charlotte- and I'm getting to learn the ins and outs of the social dynamics of the hall. We ordered Domino's for dinner and a large here is the size of a medium in America haha. But it's still good! I've pretty much just spent most of the afternoon hanging out with different bits of the group and getting to know everyone who's here so far- a few people will get here tomorrow. Some of them actually have exams and papers due this week, so they all are planning on doing studying and work this week, which is good because I've got some meetings and such to go to! They're all catered as well and have group meal times so hopefully I can join in on that!
Tomorrow is Emily's birthday so we're going to celebrate beginning tonight. They're planning on showing me around York so I can get to know the area and their friends some more! I'm very excited, even though I'm totally zonked after today.
I will post some pictures later- the internet here is a little wonky. I have York Orientation tomorrow morning, so hopefully I'll learn some good information and get my modules sorted.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
London Day Four
Today's been a long day and it isn't even over yet! We got up at 7:45 to get ready and have breakfast before we headed over to Westminster Pier for our Thames boat tour. We made our way over on the tube without any hiccups (there was a lot of work being done this weekend on a few lines), and we got there early. Suddenly, tons of student groups started appearing saying they were also Arcadia people? It was really strange, because a huge portion of the group here for orientation was moving out today and weren't on the boat tour. Apparently there are high school groups and student groups for winter break that come? It was still really weird and confusing.
The boat was extremely late- we were supposed to board at 9:45, but the boat didn't arrive until 10:20. And it was quite windy and chilly on the roof of the boat- thank goodness for wool socks. I did get a lot of nice pictures though. The co-captain ended up doing a lot of commentary for us because some of the passengers asked him to, even though there was a recording, and he was very funny. We got to see a lot of the major sites in central London- the Eye, the Tower, etc.- as well as Shakespeare's Globe. Once we got out by the East End and the dockyards, the Thames got wider and it got way colder. The recording talked a bit about the London Blitz in the area, as well as the Jack the Ripper story.
We got off at Greenwich (we could have gotten off at the Tower) and Arcadia had hired tour guides for us. We were all freezing and just wanted hot chocolate, but we went along on the tour anyway, which was a good decision. Our tour guide was Richard and he was fabulous. He started by talking about London in general, and how the actual, proper city of London is only one square mile, and 6,000 people live there, but 300,000 work there every day. The city of Westminster is a completely different city, and back in the day, there were fields between the two and the seat of government (Westminster) and the economic and residential sectors (London) were completely separated into two cities. He also talked about Canary Wharf and how it wasn't rebuilt from the bombings of WWII until the 1980s-1990s and now it's a new economic center of the city.
Next we looked at Cutty Sark, which is a tea clipper (ship) that was on display. He told us the tale of the name of Cutty Sark, which comes from a famous poem about Tam trying to get away from a witch who tries to cross a river but the witch grabs his horses tail and yanks it out. The witch is very attractive and is a young voluptuous woman wearing a skimpy cotton shift (also known as a cutty sark) and the hull of the ship has a carved woman in a skimpy shift holding a real horse's tail.
We walked through the Royal Naval Academy, which has been the site of a few different royal palaces over the years, and was an especially important location for the Tudor family. So we pretty much got a (rather entertaining) history lesson, while learning about the evolution of the space. Today, the remaining structures are the Queen's House, the Royal Observatory, and the Royal Naval College. It's a stunning campus, and despite the cold, it was nice to get to see so much of it. The area is used to film movies and tv shows all the time, especially period pieces. The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed there, and Les Miserables was filmed there most recently!! Oh, I found a list of things filmed there, you can look at it here!
We stopped in the National Maritime Museum for a brief minute, and then went into the Queen's House, which was pretty cool as an art history minor, because the architect, Inigo Jones, did some pretty awesome stuff with neo-classicist and other styles in his day. Like really cool stuff haha. We then went out behind the Queen's House to see the ball rise and drop at 1 pm for Greenwich Mean Time. We didn't go up to the observatory and the line between the hemispheres because it costs 7.50 to go in.
After that we were all quite frozen, so we headed into the village for some lunch. We stopped into a noodle bar, which was quite good and warm. Funnily enough, all four Americans going to York are vegetarians! So we all got nearly the same thing haha. Britain is actually extremely vegetarian friendly, more so than the US in some ways. Every menu (even ones in pubs) have items marked with a "V" to indicate that it's a vegetarian option, and all the cafes I've stopped in have at least one vegetarian sandwich and soup everyday of the week. My catered accommodation also has a vegetarian option at every meal! So I'm very happy.
We walked through the market, and then decided to head back to central London. There was a walkway that went under the Thames to get to the other side so we took that option to say we had done it haha. Then we hopped on the DLR and took the train back into London, switched at Bank (we had quite a walk at Bank station the other day to switch lines, it was heinous), and made it back to Bloomsbury.
Emily and I went to the British Museum, which was WONDERFUL. It was insanely huge and confusing though. But I got to see the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes and the Lewis Chessmen and the Sutton Hoo exhibit and the Assyrian carvings so I was extremely, extremely happy. I didn't actually cry, but I came close. My art history and archaeology sides were completely freaking out. There were so many amazing other things in the museum as well! It could take days to actually go through and appreciate everything. We were both kind of overwhelmed by everything and our feet were killing us, so we didn't spend too long in the museum. We headed back to our hotel where we both collapsed and had some tea before we went to the theatre to see a show in the West End.
I went out to grab some food from Tesco Express so I would have something in my system (we had HUGE lunches), so I grabbed some yoghurt with "chocolate covered biscuit bits" to mix in (it's way better than it sounds haha) and some orange-lemon water, which was seriously the most amazing drink I've ever had. What's so nice about the UK and the EU is that they have super strict laws about what kind of things can go into food products, so there are like no additives and preservatives and all those gross chemical things, and no high fructose corn syrup! And everything really is much better for it. So the water was just spring water, and a pressed orange and lemon, with some natural sugar.
About 12 of the Arcadia students who are still around ended up going to the show tonight. We all walked over as a group to the West End, which was really fun at night while it was all lit up. We went to go see Chariots of Fire at the Gielgud Theatre. It's based on the film of the same name, which is about two British runners at the 1924 Olympics. It was FANTASTIC. And they used the soundtrack from the movie, and incorporated the 2012 London Olympics into the staging. The choreography was brilliant, they somehow made all the races different and they had a spinning central stage (it was a "theatre in the round" so there were people sitting on all sides of the stage). We were up in the nosebleed section, but we could still see very well. Seriously, it was fantastic.
Afterwards we walked around the West End and Picadilly Circus, and we walked through China Town on the way back, so we got some last minute sightseeing in. I've only even seen Picadilly during the day from a bus, so being able to walk through it at night while everything was lit up was exciting.
We walked back and considered going to the pub round the corner, but we all needed to pack and get ready for our trip to York tomorrow bright and early! I'm very excited to get to unpack and get settled, I really hate living out of a suitcase. And it all feels like I'm going to Hogwarts, since I'm taking a train from London up to a school in the north haha.
The boat was extremely late- we were supposed to board at 9:45, but the boat didn't arrive until 10:20. And it was quite windy and chilly on the roof of the boat- thank goodness for wool socks. I did get a lot of nice pictures though. The co-captain ended up doing a lot of commentary for us because some of the passengers asked him to, even though there was a recording, and he was very funny. We got to see a lot of the major sites in central London- the Eye, the Tower, etc.- as well as Shakespeare's Globe. Once we got out by the East End and the dockyards, the Thames got wider and it got way colder. The recording talked a bit about the London Blitz in the area, as well as the Jack the Ripper story.
 |
| Westminster Bridge by the pier |
 |
| The London Eye from the boat |
 |
| Cleopatra's Obelisk |
 |
| The bridge from Harry Potter and Love Actually with St. Paul's in the background aka 3 things I love in one place |
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| The Shard, the tallest building in the EU |
 |
| The Tower of London |
 |
| The real London Bridge |
 |
| Canary Wharf, part of the old East End and now a successful business district outside central London |
We got off at Greenwich (we could have gotten off at the Tower) and Arcadia had hired tour guides for us. We were all freezing and just wanted hot chocolate, but we went along on the tour anyway, which was a good decision. Our tour guide was Richard and he was fabulous. He started by talking about London in general, and how the actual, proper city of London is only one square mile, and 6,000 people live there, but 300,000 work there every day. The city of Westminster is a completely different city, and back in the day, there were fields between the two and the seat of government (Westminster) and the economic and residential sectors (London) were completely separated into two cities. He also talked about Canary Wharf and how it wasn't rebuilt from the bombings of WWII until the 1980s-1990s and now it's a new economic center of the city.
Next we looked at Cutty Sark, which is a tea clipper (ship) that was on display. He told us the tale of the name of Cutty Sark, which comes from a famous poem about Tam trying to get away from a witch who tries to cross a river but the witch grabs his horses tail and yanks it out. The witch is very attractive and is a young voluptuous woman wearing a skimpy cotton shift (also known as a cutty sark) and the hull of the ship has a carved woman in a skimpy shift holding a real horse's tail.
 |
| The Cutty Sark |
We walked through the Royal Naval Academy, which has been the site of a few different royal palaces over the years, and was an especially important location for the Tudor family. So we pretty much got a (rather entertaining) history lesson, while learning about the evolution of the space. Today, the remaining structures are the Queen's House, the Royal Observatory, and the Royal Naval College. It's a stunning campus, and despite the cold, it was nice to get to see so much of it. The area is used to film movies and tv shows all the time, especially period pieces. The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed there, and Les Miserables was filmed there most recently!! Oh, I found a list of things filmed there, you can look at it here!
 |
| A cold statue? |
We stopped in the National Maritime Museum for a brief minute, and then went into the Queen's House, which was pretty cool as an art history minor, because the architect, Inigo Jones, did some pretty awesome stuff with neo-classicist and other styles in his day. Like really cool stuff haha. We then went out behind the Queen's House to see the ball rise and drop at 1 pm for Greenwich Mean Time. We didn't go up to the observatory and the line between the hemispheres because it costs 7.50 to go in.
 |
| The Queen's House |
 |
| View from in front of the Queen's House- the campus was organized to allow a view of the river from the front steps of the Queen's House between the Naval Academy buildings |
 |
| Greenwich Mean Time, when the ball was at the bottom |
 |
| And with the ball at the top. It drops at exactly 1 pm. |
 |
| This is where the equestrian events were held during the Olympics! |
 |
| The Painted Hall of the Academy- it was stunning! |
After that we were all quite frozen, so we headed into the village for some lunch. We stopped into a noodle bar, which was quite good and warm. Funnily enough, all four Americans going to York are vegetarians! So we all got nearly the same thing haha. Britain is actually extremely vegetarian friendly, more so than the US in some ways. Every menu (even ones in pubs) have items marked with a "V" to indicate that it's a vegetarian option, and all the cafes I've stopped in have at least one vegetarian sandwich and soup everyday of the week. My catered accommodation also has a vegetarian option at every meal! So I'm very happy.
We walked through the market, and then decided to head back to central London. There was a walkway that went under the Thames to get to the other side so we took that option to say we had done it haha. Then we hopped on the DLR and took the train back into London, switched at Bank (we had quite a walk at Bank station the other day to switch lines, it was heinous), and made it back to Bloomsbury.
 |
| Greenwich Village |
 |
| Haha |
 |
| The tunnel under the Thames! |
Emily and I went to the British Museum, which was WONDERFUL. It was insanely huge and confusing though. But I got to see the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes and the Lewis Chessmen and the Sutton Hoo exhibit and the Assyrian carvings so I was extremely, extremely happy. I didn't actually cry, but I came close. My art history and archaeology sides were completely freaking out. There were so many amazing other things in the museum as well! It could take days to actually go through and appreciate everything. We were both kind of overwhelmed by everything and our feet were killing us, so we didn't spend too long in the museum. We headed back to our hotel where we both collapsed and had some tea before we went to the theatre to see a show in the West End.
 |
| British Museum lobby |
 |
| The Rosetta Stone! |
 |
| Parthenon sculptures!!! |
 |
| The Lewis Chessmen!!!!! |
 |
| Sutton Hoo shoulder buckles!!! |
 |
| We thought the Enlightenment room looked like Dumbledore's office |
I went out to grab some food from Tesco Express so I would have something in my system (we had HUGE lunches), so I grabbed some yoghurt with "chocolate covered biscuit bits" to mix in (it's way better than it sounds haha) and some orange-lemon water, which was seriously the most amazing drink I've ever had. What's so nice about the UK and the EU is that they have super strict laws about what kind of things can go into food products, so there are like no additives and preservatives and all those gross chemical things, and no high fructose corn syrup! And everything really is much better for it. So the water was just spring water, and a pressed orange and lemon, with some natural sugar.
About 12 of the Arcadia students who are still around ended up going to the show tonight. We all walked over as a group to the West End, which was really fun at night while it was all lit up. We went to go see Chariots of Fire at the Gielgud Theatre. It's based on the film of the same name, which is about two British runners at the 1924 Olympics. It was FANTASTIC. And they used the soundtrack from the movie, and incorporated the 2012 London Olympics into the staging. The choreography was brilliant, they somehow made all the races different and they had a spinning central stage (it was a "theatre in the round" so there were people sitting on all sides of the stage). We were up in the nosebleed section, but we could still see very well. Seriously, it was fantastic.
 |
| Our view from the balcony- you can see how beautiful the old theatre is! |
 |
| You can get a sense of the theatre in the round set up as well, and the moving stage |
Afterwards we walked around the West End and Picadilly Circus, and we walked through China Town on the way back, so we got some last minute sightseeing in. I've only even seen Picadilly during the day from a bus, so being able to walk through it at night while everything was lit up was exciting.
 |
| Covent Garden Christmas lights |
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| Les Mis was in the theatre right next to ours |
 |
| Picadilly Circus! |
 |
| Picadilly Christmas lights |
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| I think I might need to go back and see this, it's a Beatles musical :-) |
We walked back and considered going to the pub round the corner, but we all needed to pack and get ready for our trip to York tomorrow bright and early! I'm very excited to get to unpack and get settled, I really hate living out of a suitcase. And it all feels like I'm going to Hogwarts, since I'm taking a train from London up to a school in the north haha.
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| The essential tourist photo haha |
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